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Who do I think I am? What happened when I took a DNA test

Danny Dyer's appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? was a surprise hit - Getty Images Europe
Danny Dyer's appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? was a surprise hit - Getty Images Europe

"I just need to digest it, get it in me nut, then I can move on with me life. I think I'm gonna treat me-self to a ruff. A massive ruff."

It was TV gold, talked about for weeks. Danny Dyer, cockney extraordinaire, famous for playing the hard man, had just discovered he was a direct descendant of Edward III on the hit BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? "A kid from Canning Town, and this is my bloodline," he beamed. 

Who Do You Think You Are? is a noteworthy programme for more reasons than just Danny Dyer. In an era of declining television viewing figures, when only Sir David seems to be immune, WDYTYA has retained consistently strong ratings over its 14 year lifespan. Since launching in 2004, it has pulled in at least three million viewers per episode, sometimes over seven – which is probably why a 15th series has just been announced.

It seems the great British public just can't get enough of the family tree fodder. Away from the box, an array of companies now exist to help us delve into our genealogy. As science and technology improves, it's becoming easier than ever to create family trees. No longer is it a pursuit limited to retired grandfathers with elbow padded tweed blazers who have enough time to trawl through dusty archives. Thanks to the likes of AncestryDNA, anyone with a computer, some surplus saliva and £79 can begin the journey of discovery. 

I've always been intrigued by my past. Learning of my maternal grandmother's survival in Nazi-occupied Poland and my paternal ancestors' efforts to fight those same Nazis led me to studying history at university. But while family history has always been something we've discussed at the dinner table, I wanted to know more. Where did the rest of my grandmother's family end up? Do I have close relatives dotted around the globe? And what is my hodgepodge ethnic composition? 

So I signed up for a DNA test. After spitting in a little tube and sending it off, I had to wait six weeks for the results – plenty of time to catch up with Russell James, Ancestry's family history and DNA expert, to find out how it works.

Ethnicity 

"Basically we compare different people's DNA," he explains. "We look at different markers in their DNA code and look for what matches and what doesn't match. That then turns into two main product features in the DNA product." 

Those two features are DNA matches (people who share your DNA; cousins in layman's terms), and ethnicity. James continues: "How ethnicity works is we have reference panels, groups of people who we've tested in each of those regions, establishing their ancestry in those regions. That becomes our view of what Germanic DNA or Scandinavian DNA looks like. If you share 10pc of your DNA with people with what Germanic DNA looks like, you are considered 10pc Germanic." 

Ancestry ethnicity estimate from DNA test - Credit: Ancestry.com
Ancestry ethnicity estimate Credit: Ancestry.com

While James insists the DNA testing is completely accurate, he admits it's a developing science. "As we test more people maybe our view of Germanic DNA slightly changes over time. Or we might be able to get more granular, perhaps we can say 'this is what our view of northern Germany looks like, or what Munich looks like'. This is very much the beginning of a new technology." 

Six weeks later my results are ready. Logging on to my profile, I'm able to peruse my ethnic makeup and DNA matches. Would I discover a distant Middle Eastern forefather to explain my love of falafel? Maybe I'd have a famous cousin I never knew? Are my parents really my parents? 

Well, as it turns out, I didn't learn all that much about myself. Coming from a family that always discussed its past, I had some idea about my ethnicity; what I got was confirmation. Two-thirds English, 20pc "European Jewish", 10pc "Ireland and Scotland" - I would probably have estimated similar. I knew about my 2pc Germanic routes, from a Danish ancestor. And the 2pc Russian presumably comes from some inter-marrying somewhere along the line. 

Matching you with your cousins 

What about cousins? Here it's necessary to mention the first hurdle to that reunion you've dreamed of: you'll only be matched, quite naturally, with others who've taken the test. Ancestry will rank the confidence of your match, from "extremely high", which filled up my second and third cousin brackets, to "good" at the lower end. At the top of the list was an American cousin I've met; the rest were unknowns. 

You can then send messages to your matches, if you wish. Analysis released by Ancestry last month found the average Brit has 17,000 living relatives, with just over 1,000 in the UK. The odds of you matching with a cousin, therefore, are high. The odds of you sharing known relations? Less so.

Casting a wide net, I contacted several third, fourth and fifth cousins in the hope they might have some information on the Polish side of the family, of which I know fairly little. Of those who responded, unfortunately none did. 

Family tree maker

While the DNA matching proved to be hit-and-miss, Ancestry's other feature depends entirely on how much effort you're willing to put in. The Ancestry team have trawled through millions of documents and records and uploaded them, giving us access to a wealth of information about our forebears. 

"The DNA gives you the where and starts to point to living people," says James. "The record side gives you more precisely the people and the stories about them." This of course depends where your ancestors are from. If it's countries where records were stringently kept, you're in luck.

Prince William family tree - Credit: Ancestry.com
The Duke of Cambridge's family tree Credit: Ancestry.com

The Family Tree function (from £10.99 a month, with a 14-day free trial) lets you fill in as many family members as you can to start building your tree – you can be as imprecise as you like, it'll do its best to find them. It'll then automatically scan through its archives, searching for potential matches. If something comes up, you'll get a hint notification on your profile. You can then learn more about them, perhaps where they went on holiday, when they emigrated, when they married, etc. 

I found a few nuggets, such as being able to discover how my grandparents and great-grandparents travelled around, when they arrived where. My grandfather, for example, arrived in Southampton in February 1939 as an 11-year-old from Brazil, for boarding school. A year later, after war had broken out, he was sent home on the Highland Princess ship. But I didn't really manage, with a moderate amount of effort, to find any life-changing information. 

Ancestry's DNA test and Family Tree builder can offer a fascinating and tantalising insight into your past. What you get from it depends both on how much work you're willing to put in (a lot, if you want to build a sprawling family tree). The ethnicity element requires less input. I suspect for those who have no idea about their roots, it can be fascinating. If you do, like me, it'll just be a welcome affirmation that your family haven't lied to you - and that you're not adopted.

For 20% off the Ancestry DNA test, click here before Sunday 24 June.

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Affiliate disclaimer/ review